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Re: Peaches

Canadian electro-rapper Peaches is going ahead with her solo performance of Jesus Christ Superstar next week in Berlin after a battle over rights with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

Peaches is the stage name of Merrill Beth Nisker, a former teacher turned musician who was named electronic artist of the year at the 2010 Indie Awards last week in Toronto. She is currently based in Berlin and plans to stage her Peaches Christ Superstar performance there next week.

Though she is notorious for her wild on-stage persona and sexually explicit lyrics, Peaches swears she's not being ironic in her approach to the 1971 musical.

"I'm a fan of Jesus Christ Superstar. I think it's fantastic music, I think the story is timeless," she told CBC's cultural affairs show Q on Friday.

"It would just be straight-up singing of the album. I just want people to have a chance to enjoy the music, very stripped down."

Jesus Christ Superstar, written by Lloyd Webber and Rice, is a rock musical that tells the story of Christ from the entry into Jerusalem to his crucifixion.

Peaches said she has been preparing her voice for the performance, in which she'd play everyone from Mary Magdalene to Jesus Christ and Pilate. She planned to perform at Berlin's Hebbel Theatre with expat Chilly Gonzales accompanying on piano. But plans for the show hit a snag when the Hebbel Theatre applied for music rights to the work and a German rights authority said no.

"They decided, 'This is a production and we don't like the way you're doing it. It's unconventional; it's not the way it's supposed to be done,'" she said.

Peaches said she doesn't know if the problem was her reputation as a raunchy rocker or if the rights holder just wanted more money.

She decided to fight back in public, tackling the issue with a tweet that said "Peaches Christ Superstar crucified before opening night."

That got a lot of attention, including articles in Britain's Guardian, the New York Times and the Berlin newspapers.

"In 48 hours it was all over the place. It made its way to Tim Rice's office. They called the Hebbel Theatre and said 'This is way too much bad press. Just let her put it on,'" she said.

The show will go ahead March 25-27 in Berlin, and Peaches is looking for opportunities to tour it in Canada.

She released the album I Feel Cream last year and her single from that effort, Talk to Me, still has the edge associated with one of rock's bad girls.

But she said Peaches Christ Superstar is going to be unadorned singing.

"I'm not going to be climbing the walls or getting into these crazy costumes. It's all going to be about my voice, and bringing the emotion through my voice," she said.

"It will be challenging for me and for the audience. It definitely is a risk.

Since 2009's I Feel Cream, Peaches has been expanding her artistic horizons, appearing in productions including Peaches Christ Superstar, her one-woman take on Jesus Christ Superstar, and Peaches Does Herself, a futuristic rock opera about her rise to fame. Now, she's announced a new album, Rub, recorded last year in L.A. with Vice Cooler. It's out September 25 on I U She Music via INgrooves, and there's a North American tour to support it. Check the dates and album tracklist below.

Guests on the LP include Peaches' longtime collaborator Feist, who sings on "I Mean Something", and Kim Gordon, who speak-sings a hook on "Close Up", as Gordon revealed on Marc Maron's podcast earlier this year.
Ahead of the record, Peaches will also release What Else Is In The Teaches Of Peaches, a photo book with Holger Talinski, documenting her extracurricular work over the last decade. That includes the leading role in a Berlin production of L'Orfeo, Monteverdi's 17th-Century opera; collaborations with Yoko Ono, Le Tigre, and R.E.M; and the theater productions mentioned above. That's out in June via Akashic Books.